(Hy a member of the Strike Committee, ) 1499 At a meeting held in the TGWU headquarters in Coventry on Friday the 500 workers of Dunlop No.3 factory decided to end their fourteen—day—old strike, The strike was called after the dismissal of two shop stewards for what the company claimed was "industrial misconduct! The action against the two stewards arose out of an incident during a previous stoppage of work at the factory, The diamissals, the culmination of a series of attacks on the union organisation in this particular factory, caused an immediate walk-out by the night shift workers, who were followed by the rest of the factory the next day.
At Friday's meeting the assembled workers hoard the terms for a return to work described by the Union officials as a complete capitulation by the Dunlop management. On Thursday the Financial Times reported the agreement between representatives of the two unions concorned, AEU and TGiy, and tho Znginsering Employers Association in these terms: "The employers and the Unions are anxious to avoid dislocation in an important industry and thoy have agreed that provided thom can be an immediate return to normal working a procedural conference will be arranged forthwith. The purpose of this conference will be +o discuss the conditions which would govern the re-engagment of the two men in their original positions." The report was oven more blunt when it stated: " The management has, of course, not yet finally committed itself to reinstating the mon — to do so while its factory is at a standstill would be +o break every rule in the industrial diplomatist's hand—book — tut last night it did the next best thing."
The recommendation for a return to work was only accepted after an assurance had been given by the Union officials that if the two men were not reinstated on Monday, they would call the factory out again. The mecting was a wonderful demonstration of workers solidarity, many pledges of support were received from representatives of workers from other factories, both in Coventry anil elsewhere, A convenor from Fort Dunlop, Birmingham, stated that he had informed his owmm management, "that if the strike was not settled soon, not only would BHiC have no suspension units for their "IMini,s", they wouldn't have any tyres either." A senior shop steward from the Coventry Standard motors factory arrived at the meeting with a shopping bag containing £254 in cash and a plea to be given the bag back as thore was more to come, The mood of the strikers was summed up by a statement made earlier in the week, when in a speech of support for the strike a senior steward from another Coventry factory said "they may be ablo to get way with it at Ford's, but we will show them thatethey can't get away with it in Coventry."
The action of the management in this factory is, by no means, an isolated incident. It is, in fact, part of a pattern of action by employers who are trying +o solve their problems at the expense of the workers, The action by the Ford management is ono instance and information has been received which indicates pressure being put on shop stewards in another Dunlop factory. Many employers, particularly those who depended on the entry of Britain into the Common Market, need to cut the wages of their employees and the first step in this attack on worker's standards mst be, from the employers point of view , the smashing of the trade union organisation in industry. The Dunlop strikers have proved that, not only must this attack be resisted, tut that the omployers can be defeated,